Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a Mark and Christian's new house in Cave Creek--and this was no ordinary Thanksgiving!

To begin, Mark asked that we have "small plates" for the meal- of course neither Shirley or I knew what that meant, so here's how it went! Our first course was Bruschetta with Sangria and Bacon wrapped Shrimp! YUMMY!

Our 2nd course we sat at the table to enjoy a salad and Crab stuffed Mushrooms! Between this and the main course we took time to digest our first two courses by playing a few rounds of Dominoes.

The main course consisted of Steak with a garlic onion cream sauce and then all the fixens that Shirley and I brought; Corn Souffle, Mashed Potatoes and Roles. After this course we watched some TV, then made our final attempt at the last course-Dessert!

For dessert Shirley brought Apple Pie and Mark and Christian supplied the ice cream! At this point, I gave up- I could eat nothing more! After I watched everyone else eat dessert we finished the evening by playing the rest of our Dominoes game! Not what I expected for Thanksgiving, but very satisfying!

So, the temps jumped back up into the 80's this weekend and they may be here to stay a bit! The beautiful weather demanded me to spend some time out in it, so I packed up my book and a blanket and drove to the Kiwanis Park, just a few miles up the rode and found a shady spot to park! Doesn't even look like AZ, but the picture with the light poles in it--if you look far enough into the horizon, you can see some mountaintops in the distance! I spent a few hours enjoying the sights and sounds, it was very nice!

Fall Photo Shoot...

Last Sunday we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and had our own photo shoot in my parents' backyard. Some of the pics turned out really great! Here are a couple...

Matt and Maddox are so photogenic...it's ridiculous!

Brandson MO with Ron and Barb Judy

This is the beautiful resort we stayed in outside of Branson Mo. Not only was the room wonderful but the view was breath-taking.

My first poney ride with Poppop

Wow Poppop I am really riding the pony!! Don't let me go cause this pony is craaazy!

Maddox

Hi Poppop I see you taking my picture:)

When can I ride the pony again?

Maddox and Grandma

Grandma and I have been playing each week.
Notice my hair has grown back? Cool huh?

Maddox & Poppop

Grandpa and Max playing

Shannon Black and Drew

November 8, 2008 Shannon shared Drew with the family before they leave for New York to find a home and new jobs.

Party animal...

This Saturday Maddox was invited to his friend Emmie's 2nd birthday. There was a princess theme, so it was only fitting that Snow White made an appearance! That's my friend Jennie holding Maddox...can you believe she made that costume herself?

Matt turns 31!

Last Saturday Matt turned 31 and we celebrated by attending the Rising Sun Art Festival in Indiana with both sets of parents! Despite weather reports, it ended up being warm and sunny, making it the ideal setting to walk around and enjoy ourselves. There were 3 Indiana wineries represented, one of which introduced me to my new favorite drink...a wine-a-rita!

Maddox was such a good boy that day...here he is with Grandma Hood!
Lana, our resident pastry chef, made Matt a twinkie cake for his birthday! Everyone absolutely LOVED it! There have already been several requests made for it to appear at our family Christmas gathering this year.
One of Matt's presents from my dad was a ticket to the Bengals game last Sunday. Here are my boys rocking the orange and black! Unfortunately, the game ended up being a wind-blown tragedy (both due to the weather and the skills of the players).

Fatherhood and Motherhood fly

Sept. 17th, 2008 Deb's old boss called and asked if we would like to fly and eat Tuesday night. We flew, with Debbie as pilot for 30 of the 60 minutes, across Indy. We ate supper at Crackbarrel in Shelbyville.

Jim and Suzanne Snyder picked us up at the Shelbyville airport when we flew then took time to eat before they left Shelbyville airport. We went home knowing we survived and new 'pilot in the making'

Cody

So, I want to introduce my new roommate, Cody! I met Cody at church and since then have had quite a few exciting adventures!! In one picture Cody is playing my guitar, another, we enjoyed some cigars on a Sunday afternoon. We went to family camp with the church, and found a tire swing to play on up in Payson, and then the last picture is of Cody and I at Renee's party intruducing her new roomie Rick! So, good times! Hopefully more are on the way!

32nd Birthday Party!

So my b-day was on a Thursday, so that night
my friends and I met at O'Donoghue's, an
Irish Restaurant/Pub, with live music by
Mark Zubia! What fun!!








Then on Friday night, I met up with my co-workers
at the Yucca Tap Room for some more live music!
The music left us happy to go, unfortunately, how-
ever, I had a great time catching up with every-
one!







Then, Sunday, my church family took me out to
lunch at an Indian Restaurant, very good for my
first time!


All in all, I had a very good birthday celebration!

More about Maddox...

On September 7, Maddox turned 5...months, that is! I'll tell you what, with all that goes on in the world today, every day, week and month that passes by is a celebration! Right now he's trying to master rolling over, and he devours his rice cereal like it's the tastiest thing on the planet! Next week we get to introduce baby food - starting with veggies (strained peas - ewww)! This is my life...and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

The whole family together was celebrating the wedding of David and Kylie. We had such a good time with the kids.

The Hood family

Matt, Amanda and Maddox at David and Kylie's wedding. It was a wedding and day.

Such a Big Boy!

This week Maddox was introduced to a new taste...rice cereal! He doesn't exactly love it, but at least he's getting the hang of eating off a spoon.
During our usual Sunday afternoon grill out, Matt he'd be funny by offering Maddox some wine. Maybe someday he'll be a wine connoisseur like his daddy!

A Family Affair...

WELCOME TO THE HOOD BLOG!

We decided to launch this website as a way to open communication among all the Hood relatives. Our hope is to share our lives with each other and keep everyone updated on the latest news in each individual family. Some of us live so far apart...maybe this will help close the gap!

So...come on! Let us know what you're up to and post as many pictures as you please!

Here's Maddox, now 4 months old, after bath time with his favorite froggie towel!

Happy blogging!